Dead Men Walking Slot Review
If you were to ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, you’d probably get the usual fireman, superhero, or vet choices, but the jobs we hoped for are not always the ones we end up doing.
Of all the career paths you could take, there are people out there doing the worst jobs…nobody loathes their job more than a sewage inspector or roadkill cleaner, so if you think your retail job will be the death of you, you might want to think again.
Talking of death, there’s one particular job that puts blood on your hands, without being held accountable. Nolimit City’s latest release, Dead Men Walking, covers the 9-5 shift of The Executioner, who operates under the motto “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”.
To snuff out the life of another and await judgment elsewhere is the sacred oath he swore. Who are we to judge? It’s a dirty job that requires nerves of steel and a strong stomach, but someone has to do it. Follow The Executioner as he passes through life with a grin on his face and blood on his hands.
After playing the prisoner in Folsom Prison and San Quentin xWays, we find ourselves marching inmates to meet their maker as judge, jury, and executioner. Dead Men Walking features Nolimit City’s popular xSplit, xNudge, and xWays mechanics, with a fixed RTP of 96.20%, a high (8/10) volatility score, and a 25,313x max win potential.
Thematically, Dead Men Walking looks to be set in an earlier era, as evidenced by the game’s torture symbols, backdrop, and soundtrack. Committing an offence back then would end in excruciating pain, deadly torture devices, or worse…
Base Game & Features
Dead Men Walking is a highly volatile, 5-reel video slot with 3 rows and 17 fixed pay lines. Winning combinations are awarded when 3, 4, or 5 paytable symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The 6 paytable symbols, consisting of torture devices & weapons, award fixed payouts between 0.2x and 4x your bet. Additionally, Single & Stacked Wilds reveal payouts between 0.5x and 4x your bet, substituting for all winning combinations they are a part of.
Fire Pit Features
Above reels 1-3 are 3 Fire Pits, responsible for the xWays, Infectious Wild, and xSplit features. When a feature is triggered at random, the corresponding Fire Pit will ignite. Each feature will appear on the reels as Scrolls, awarding the following outcomes:
- xWays: Transforms into 2-4 instances of a random high or low-paying symbol, thus increasing the number of ways to win.
- Infectious Wild: Transforms a random high or low-paying symbol and all its instances into Wilds. If more than 1 Infectious Wild appears, each will choose a different symbol for Wild transformation.
- xSplit: Causes all symbols on its row to split into two, doubling the symbol size and transforming into a Wild. xSplit symbols can split any symbol, except itself and Scatters.
xNudge Wilds
xNudge Wilds are special symbols that always nudge down until fully visible on the reels, with each nudge increasing the Wild Multiplier by +x1. Once fully in view, it will trigger the Dead Man’s March, where it will move 1 step to the left, further boosting its Wild Multiplier.
If an xNudge Wild reaches the leftmost reel, and other xNudge Wilds are visible, its current Wild Multiplier will transfer to the next available xNudge Wild. Dead Man’s March is awarded until the last xNudge Wild reaches the first reel.
Nolimit Booster & Bonus Buy
Players may purchase one of the following Nolimit Booster & Bonus Buy options:
- Booster 1: Increases your chances of triggering the Dead Man’s Gold bonus. When 1 Scatter hits, an additional 1-4 Scatters may be added to the Scatter Board for 1.5x your bet (96.13%)
- Booster 2: Scatter symbols are upgraded to Gold Scatters for 2.5x your bet (96.23%)
- Booster 3: Increases your chance of triggering Reaper’s Gold bonus. When 1 Gold Scatter hits, 1-4 additional Gold Scatters may be added to the Scatter Board for 5x your bet (96.17%)
- Booster 4: Guarantees at least 1 xNudge Wild for 40x your bet (96.07%)
- Dead Man’s Gold: Guaranteed entry into Dead Man’s Gold for 100x your bet (96.06%)
- Reaper’s Gold: Guaranteed entry into Reaper’s Gold for 300x your bet (96.09%)
- Dead Man’s Gold + xNudge: Triggers Dead Man’s Gold with a guaranteed xNudge Wild for 800x your bet (96.03%)
- Lucky Draw: 50% Dead Man’s Gold, 50% Reaper’s Gold for 550x your bet (96.03%)
Dead Men Walking has a maximum win potential of 25,313x your bet. If a single game session reaches this limit, the mode ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Dead Men Walking Bonus Spins
Triggering Dead Man’s Gold requires 3, 4, or 5 Scatters to land within the base game, awarding 3, 4, and 5 Free Spins, respectively. This mode begins on a 5-reel, 5-row matrix, where only Coin symbols with a random Cash Prize can land.
During this mode, when 3 or more Coin symbols align vertically or horizontally, they are collected and paid out. In addition, Feature Coins will also trigger upon collection. There are 4 Feature Coins available to trigger:
- Collector: Collects the cash prize of all available coins
- Cloner: Copies the highest-paying coin prize to all others in view
- Multiplier: Doubles the cash prize of all visible coins
- King’s Grace: Resets the number of Free Spins to its original count
Reaper’s Gold
Alternatively, landing 3, 4, or 5 Gold Scatters in the base game triggers the Reaper’s Gold bonus, awarding 3, 4, or 5 Free Spins, respectively. This mode utilises the same mechanics from Dead Man’s Gold, only Feature Coins are triggered as soon as they appear in view.
Extra Spin
During either Free Spins mode, players may receive an opportunity to purchase an Extra Spin at the end of the round. The extra spin will retain the current Multiplier of all symbols in the previous spin.
The cost of the Extra Spin will be calculated based on the current Multiplier values. If the price of the spin is less than or equal to the current win from the previous spin, the Extra Spin function will be awarded.
Our Honest Verdict
Life is full of judgment, unfortunately. The law judges the guilty, God judges all, and the Executioner makes the final judgment, which he unapologetically and seemingly enjoys – talk about having his or her life in your hands.
The executioner lives for death, and if he wakes with a smile, then you know it’s gonna be someone’s worst day, but most definitely their last. It was said that an executioner could match the earnings of a skilled tradesman – not bad by any means, but this sick individual doesn’t do it for coin, but for the pure satisfaction.
The most important question, though, is whether this particular person gets a thrill from killing or if they just enjoy watching them take their last breath. It’s not something we’ve thought about until now, but in this instance, we do, very much in fact.
The base game plays out rather nicely under the circumstances. It has a good variety of xMechanics to keep players engaged, while we found it capable and compelling enough to attract a fan base of players for quite a while.
The individual Bonus modes are an interesting choice for Nolimit City. It comes across as your traditional Hold & Win feature. but it’s more along the lines of Push Gaming’s Retro Tapes, but in a very loose sense.
The aim is to trigger Collectors and Cloners to imbue Coin symbols with higher values before applying a Multiplier alongside them. Furthermore, you need to land at least 3 in a horizontal or diagonal line to be guaranteed their payouts.
Both modes are pretty solid, but they’re not as action-packed as previous Nolimit City releases, nor are they as capable. Dead Men Walking has a fixed max win of 25,313x your bet, which doesn’t quite touch the sides of Mental 2, for example, but it’s still a very attractive prospect…unless you’re on Death Row, of course.
All in all, Dead Men Walking is a charming, hearty dose of Nolimit City macabre once again. Nothing is ever pleasant in their warped reality, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
